'It's life-changing': Victorian man selected for IBM program that offers employment for people with

IBM neurodiversity program offering employment hope for people with autism 7.30 By Lauren Day Photo: Sam Castleman will now have to juggle work and time with his partner Karlie McRitchie with their twin daughters.  When Sam Castleman was first diagnosed with autism, he was worried it might stop him from reaching his goals.    "I guess I'd heard this stigma around it and it was something I perceived quite negatively," he told 7.30. "But as I went on, as I researched it more and as I saw the symptoms, it felt like it became part of my identity." Ten years on, other people are recognising the positive attributes that often come with an autism diagnosis. Global IT company IBM has just rolled out its first neurodiversity program in Australia, at its Client Innovation Centre in Ballarat, putting 16 candidates with autism through their paces for four weeks and then hiring the 10 best — including 23-year-old Mr Castleman. Senior project manager Belinda Sheehan said the company saw the need to employ people who think differently. Photo: Belinda Sheehan shake hands Sam Castleman's hand after telling him he got the job.    "We recognise for us to stay innovative and forward-thinking and be cutting-edge, we need to have as many brains as possible," she told 7.30. "These people, 30 per cent are unemployed, all of these fantastic brains are out there not being used. We need to bring them into our industry, into our business to keep us on the cutting edge."The challenges and opportunities autism brings Ms Sheehan said many people on the spectrum were perfectly suited for work in IT and computing. "They're very honest — which is very interesting — and very loyal." Mr Castleman agreed that the biggest benefit was being able to think differently. "The way I want to do something is often quite different to how a normal person would and that can present itself with new opportunities," he said. "I'm also very passionate about things and when I get into something, I become really committed to achieving it and making sure it gets done."  He felt there were a variety of reasons why companies overlooked candidates with autism. "People on the spectrum obviously struggle to communicate in the same way as normal people," he said. "And they can present themselves with very strange personality traits that can make them less desirable to people who don't know them, or don't want to put in the effort of getting to know them." There can also be some special needs associated with being on the spectrum. According to Ms Sheehan, one of the biggest reasons companies often overlooked people on the autism spectrum was because they did not perform well in job interviews. "For example, we ring people up on the phone initially and a lot of these people don't necessarily like to answer on the phone, and even just coming into an interview, they're just not presenting well," she said. "They are also very honest, so when they're asked, 'how good are you at programming?' they say,

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